My Birth Story

I decided now would be a good time to tell my birth story before I forget.

May 2nd started out actually as a horrible day. As told by the nurse, Josh (my husband) and I woke up super early to be at our appointment at 5:30am at the hospital. Having been told the night before by a nurse to not eat anything I already knew the morning would be tough. We checked in and headed up to the Labor & Delivery floor. We pressed the buzzer to be allowed into the department. We were told to sit in the waiting room. The only problem with that was the fact that there were tons of people sleeping in there with the lights off. We decided we would just sit down on the floor outside the waiting room. After a horrible 30 minutes of sitting and waiting Josh finally decided to press the buzzer again. A nurse came out and the news was not so great. Apparently they were super busy and probably wouldn't be able to take us until 7am. After a not so good confrontation from me about being hungry and not wanting to wait I learned that I actually was allowed to eat breakfast. Let's just say no one should come between me and food. We were told to head down to the cafeteria and hang out and eat something. They would call us whenever they were ready.

We get down to the cafeteria and of course it's closed. They don't open until 6:30am. Well here comes the tears. I'm exhausted, I slept like crap, and now I'm starving and can't eat. After some consoling and food 30 minutes later I'm finally a normal person again. Let's just say you don't want to be near me when I'm hangry...

The nurse finally called us at 7am and we headed up to the Labor & Delivery floor. Things got much better from here. We checked and I got all hooked up to the monitors.

After this things got a little boring for awhile. I ate some popsicles and chilled out and waited for the doctor.

Finally at 9am they started the induction. They hooked me up to an IV and started giving me Pitocin. At 9:30am the doctor came in and broke my water. Which felt super weird. Basically just feels like a gush of water and every time you move after that more water gushes out.

My contractions started getting regular as the Pitocin levels went up. They started me at level 2 and increased it every 30 minutes or so.

Finally around 12:00pm I decided the contractions were too much for me to take. Grabbing onto the side of the bed with one hand and squeezing Josh's hand with the other I said I needed the epidural.

After about 30 minutes the anesthesiologist came in. It's kind of weird when you get an epidural. They tell you to put your feet off the bed on one side and the anesthesiologist gets on the other side. Josh sat in-between my legs and held my hands as the anesthesiologist started. You are supposed to bend over and arch your back like a cat. The worst part was the first numbing prick. They numb you, work for awhile, then numb you again, then work for awhile. It all takes about 15 minutes. The numbing pricks are definitely the most painful. 15 minutes after the drugs finally started to kick in and life was glorious. My legs started becoming numb and I could no longer feel the contractions.

Around 2:30pm my doctor game in and said I was at 10cm. Time to push!

The nurse came in and started getting things ready. The beds in Labor & Delivery are so weird. The bed like splits in half. They take away the lower half and out comes the stirrups. Then you place your numb legs on the stirrups.

I'm not sure how things work without an epidural, but this is how it works with one. The nurse gets on one side, your husband on the other. They look at the monitor and watch for when a contraction is starting. Once the contraction starts the nurse and your husband pull your legs up to your chest. Then you bring your head up to your stomach and push as hard as possible. You push for 10 seconds then release, then another 10 seconds, then release, then one last 10 seconds, then release. Then you sit there for 3-4 minutes until the next contraction starts. Then the pushing and releasing starts again. If you have an epidural like I did you don't feel any pain from this. Just when you're pushing make sure you push with all your might so your face turns red and use your "poop" muscles.

Apparently this step can last for hours. Luckily mine didn't last very long. After about 20-30 minutes the nurse called the doctor in and told her she thought we were ready. The doctor started getting things ready. Setting up a table in front of me, putting on a gown, setting up cloths and other things below me.

By the way your husband is looking exactly at this whole process. He is right in the action staring at the head coming out. My husband told me yes normally these are his wife's lady parts, but during the birth of your baby you aren't concentrating on that. You are concentrating on your baby's head and how exciting it is.

I started pushing at 2:55pm. Avery Joshua came out at 3:37pm. I only had to push for 42 minutes. Apparently this is very short and I am super lucky.

By the way my Pitocin level only got up to 12. The highest you can go is 20. A lot of people end up going all the way to 20. Just makes me know Avery was ready to come out!

Sadly I ended up with an episiotomy. Avery's shoulders were facing my back so he was having a little trouble getting out. The ideal position is for your baby's shoulder's to be facing your stomach. After having the episiotomy he slipped right out.

This next part is kind of a blur. Avery came out and they put him on my belly to clean him off a bit. I held him for a bit and then they took him to fully clean him off and weigh him. The nurse sent Josh off to take pictures of him while the placenta came out and I got sewed up. After this they also do a horrible massage on your stomach to get your uterus to start contracting. This does hurt a lot and you can definitely feel it!

I just remember saying "Josh, look at him, look at him". I think I was completely amazed that this tiny human just came out of me.

After that things were pretty normal. They put a huge pad in-between your legs with some awesome disposable underwear and put your bed back together. They also take out your epidural. They cover you up and recommend you do some skin to skin contact. I attempted to breastfeed at this point, but honestly it doesn't really happen. Your baby probably won't be interested yet and probably won't want to eat until a couple hours after birth.

You chill in the Labor & Delivery room for around 2 hours until they take you to your room/prison/cave that you will spend the next 48 hours in. Luckily ours was bigger than the room we saw on our hospital tour. I chilled on my bed, Josh had a chair to sleep in, and Avery was put in a plastic bin on wheels. All was good.

There's my birth story! Don't worry I'll be back to tell you more about our hospital stay and the trials of breastfeeding and the first week with Avery at home.